Camel cart | Pakistan

A similar card with the one in the previous post, this time a camel cart in Karachi, Pakistan.

Judging from the handwriting, the same person send this postcard, too. It was posted on 14 March 1955. If only I could understand German!

Regarding the stamp used on both postcards I found the following information: Pakistan 1951 SG58 4a. Saracenic Leaf Pattern, Fourth Anniversary of Independence, green. Perforation 13.

Karachi | Pakistan

This black and white postcard shows a donkey cart in Karachi (Urdu: کراچی‎; Sindhi: ڪراچي‎; ALA-LC: Karācī) - the capital of the province of Sindh - is the largest and most populous city in Pakistan, as well as the 2nd most populous city in the world. 

 

Though the surroundings of Karachi have been inhabited for millennia, the city itself was founded as a village named Kolachi which was established as a fortified settlement in 1729. The new settlement is said to have been named in honour of Mai Kolachi, whose son is said to have slayed a man-eating crocodile in the village after his elder brothers had already been killed by it. The city's inhabitants are referred to by the demonym Karachiite in English, and Karāchīwālā in Urdu.

The settlement increased in importance drastically with the arrival of British colonialists, who not only embarked on major works to transform the city into a major seaport, but also connected it with their extensive railway network. By the time of the Partition of India, the city was the largest in Sindh with an estimated population of 400,000. Immediately following the independence of Pakistan, the city's population increased dramatically with the arrival of thousands of Muslim immigrants from India, with Karachi remaining the primary destination of Indian Muslim migrants throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

Known as the "City of Lights" in the 1960s and 1970s for its vibrant nightlife, Karachi was beset by sharp ethnic, sectarian, and political conflict in the 1980s with the arrival of weaponry during the Soviet-Afghan war.

The card was posted on 16 March 1955 from Karachi.

Maha nuwara | Sri Lanka

I really like this postcard, the colours, the pose.. It shows an Elephant Parade in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Kandy (Sinhalese: මහනුවර Mahanuwara; Tamil: கண்டி) is a major city in Sri Lanka, located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea plantations. Kandy is both an administrative and religious city and is also the capital of the Central Province. Kandy is the home of The Temple of the Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa), one of the most sacred places of worship in the Buddhist world. It was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1988.

The city and the region has been known by many different names and versions of those names. Some scholars suggest that the original name of Kandy was Katubulu Nuwara located near present Watapuluwa. However, the more popular historical name is Senkadagala or Senkadagalapura, officially Senkadagala Siriwardhana Maha Nuwara (meaning 'great city of Senkadagala of growing resplendence'), generally shortened to 'Maha Nuwara'. According to folklore, this name originated from one of the several possible sources. One being the city was named after a brahmin with the name Senkanda who lived in a cave near by, and another being a queen of Vikramabahu III was named Senkanda, and after a coloured stone named Senkadagala. The Kingdom of Kandy has also been known by various names. The English name Kandy, which originated during the colonial era, is derived from an anglicised version of the Sinhalese Kanda Uda Rata (meaning the land on the mountain) or Kanda Uda Pas Rata (the five counties/countries on the mountain). The Portuguese shortened this to "Candea", using the name for both the kingdom and its capital. In Sinhalese, Kandy is called Maha nuwara, meaning "Great City" or "Capital", although this is most often shortened to Nuwara.

History of Caylon Tea | Sri Lanka

 

I usually like postcards that show the way of living in a certain country, so this was an immediate hit. It shows locals plucking up tea in County Estate, Ceylon. The evolution of tea in Ceylon is an extraordinary story. While tea is the obvious focus in this tale, it is in fact the culminating result of what was a remarkable plantation enterprise that commenced under British colonial rule post-1796. This enterprise embarked with coffee growing as its core harvest, and indeed, the first coffee plantation preceded tea by nearly half a century. Ceylon coffee progressed to being amongst the world’s best, before the ‘coffee rust disease’ decimated the industry, by the 1870s.

This gave rise to the tea industry of Ceylon, which not only flourished, but proceeded to gain repute as the world’s finest tea. While James Taylor is the rightfully acknowledged pioneer, the success of the industry had numerous benefactors, across multiple fields. Roads, railways, bridges and tunnels; botanists, engineers, surveyors, and even politicians. It was this cohesion and collective contribution from the various professional spheres that enabled the industry to prosper as it did.

Paris 1955 | France

Yet another pretty postcard from France, this time Paris. It pictures Place de la Concorde and you can see the Eiffel Tower. It was posted on 9/8/1955 and even though it is written in English the handwrite makes it hard to read [again if anyone can help... :) ].